During our current health crisis I have still been working full time in my health care job. But my husband and kids have been home, and my husband deserves an award for being the home school teacher and referee and short order-cook on top of doing his job from home full time. I have the luxury of leaving the home, but I try to find things on weekends and my weekday off to keep the kids occupied. As we cannot really go anywhere during this time, finding activities has posed a bit of a challenge.

In the kitchen

My kids love to help in the kitchen, and though it tends to slow down the process at least it keeps them occupied and out of making a mess for a few minutes! I recently purchased this kid’s knife set from Amazon so that I don’t have to worry about big cuts on little fingers. After my son used them he decided he wants to be a chef!

We also love baking, our favorite and easiest recipe being cake mix cookies! The recipe is simple:

Cake Mix Cookies

  • Ingredients: 1 box cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil
  • Instructions:
    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
    • Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until combined, add in any optional desired add-ins like chocolate chips or nuts
    • Spoon approximately two tbsp dough onto cookie sheet (I use a small cookie scoop)
    • Bake for 8-10 minutes until just golden at the edges

Oh boy these are too easy and too delicious but we love making (and eating!) them.

Outdoors

Chalk Drawings

We always have an abundance of chalk around, but last month I saw that people were making giant chalk art in their driveway so we decided to do the same one lazy afternoon. I taped off lines with painters tape and let the kids at it, and yes I also colored because there is something very calming about it. We had a great time and it also ate up a decent amount of time. I have seen people getting very creative with their drawings! I am not the creative type so straight lines was all I had.

Gardening

I do not have a green thumb but I do like to keep the front yard tidy and plant a few flowers each year. The kids love to help picking weeds and watering plants-mostly so they can spray each other with the hose. Actually, it always turns into a water fight but oh well they are having a good time!

Adventure walks

A simple activity but we have found different ways to add a little bit of fun. We downloaded Pokemon Go onto my phone and will look for them along our way. We drive to different areas of town or parks that are open to walk trails or even go creek jumping. For me it is an easy way to check exercise off my list and for them its an easy way to burn off energy and get fresh air.

Inside the House

Picnic

Okay, so this can be inside or outside, but the kids thought it was hilarious to have a picnic in the basement! We made pasta salad and brownies, laid out a table cloth onto the train table and had a grand old time. Doing things indoors that are normally meant for outdoors can make it extra fun.

Exercise/dance

It is difficult to find time to exercise with work and cleaning and spending time with the kids. So I decided to roll two into one and have the kids join me for exercise time! We found some great exercise videos geared toward kids that end up being a pretty good workout for all of us, so if I don’t get my own in later I don’t feel as guilty!

It’s a trying time for us all during this health crisis but finding new ways to change up the day is one way we are trying to stay sane!

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